They have hopes and dreams like many other children, but the siblings are from Uganda, and are in Stockton with five other children from the Jinja District of that country, sharing their story through song and dance.

On Wednesday the Chosen, as they're called, visited O'Connor Woods and the Family Shelter for the Homeless. They have a lineup of schools on the schedule and on Sunday will give their only public performance at 5 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church. The event is free.

"The tour is to grow sponsorships, but one of the main goals is that we have a lot of patrons and donors and sponsors, and we have been able to visit and connect with them on this tour," said Ginger Damron, the founding director of AIDS Orphan Education Trust USA, who has driven them 6,000 miles across the country in the past nine weeks.

Even residents of the homeless shelter took Damron's card with hopes of helping her organization, which works to sponsor children affected by the AIDS pandemic. It finds them homes and pays for their education, which is not free in Uganda. It also has built schools and homes for families willing to take in orphans. AOET currently sponsors 900 children.

The seven children on tour aren't necessarily orphans, but Damron said 2 million Ugandan children are. AOET was started in 2000 by Sam Tushabe, who sought to help the people of his homeland. Damron began the U.S. arm of the organization after visiting Uganda in 2006.

As she escorts them across the country, Damron observes they are just like American children.

"They know how to brush their teeth and they get in arguments when they play cards," Damron said.

They're also quite independent, in some cases required to grow up faster than others their age by the events in their country. " 'Bored' is not part of their vocabulary," Damron said, and they appreciate the opportunity to be here and take advantage of it.

Mercy Mwebaze, 10, came three years ago when the Chosen first visited Stockton. America is different though. Specifically, the weather has changed. The group previously came in the summer.

Mercy also liked visiting an aquarium for the first time, and seeing Niagara Falls.

Moses said the most fun he's had is swimming and getting candy on Halloween when he experienced trick-or-treating for the first time.

The similarity between his country and this one, he said, is the people.

When he and the six girls sing and dance, the reaction tends to be one of appreciation. Wednesday's audience at the homeless shelter clapped and cheered and encouraged them. Children danced with them when invited to do so.

All the while, the Chosen smiled and showed no signs of tiring from their three-month tour of performing their high-energy dances.

They happily posed for photographs and were eager to meet new people. They spent time playing at the shelter after their performance.

Whether they know it or not, they are furthering the cause of AOET.

"What they do is make it real for people," Damron said. "It's not just an orphan in Uganda. It's Mercy, and she wrote a song, and here she is singing and dancing."

Damron's affection for the children is obvious. It's not just that she's transported them from one end of the country to the other and has taken responsibility for their well being. When they leave Stockton later this week, they'll head to Arizona, where the children will see the Grand Canyon. They'll then make their way to Kansas, where the Chosen will attend Damron's wedding before making their way back home, to spend Christmas with their own families.